Blog

We reported earlier this year when Google added a mortgage calculator to organic search results. This week, they’ve taken another step forward. Google Compare now provides “[a] real-time, apples-to-apples comparison of rate quotes”. Of course, there’s a lot more to a...

As we enter the holiday season, many Americans will be traveling quite a bit. For some, that’s just a drive to see local relatives; but for many, it can mean much longer trips, from elderly “snowbirds” heading to warm islands, to expats returning home to see family...

Of course, everyone knows that property has different value in different markets. And everyone knows that the cost of labor is different in different markets, so the cost of building houses can vary. But it turns out that, far more important than the cost of labor,...

If you didn’t catch the brief coverage on CNN (here’s the original article , and you’re not particularly active on social media, then you may have missed a particularly heartwarming example of Americans doing the charitable thing. In the wake of the Paris attack last...

Shelby Holliday of the WSJ sat down for a few moments at the CEO Council with Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton. Of course, at this point, we’re all familiar with the e-mortgage regulations that have come through, and the government’s attempts to standardize reporting...

The third quarter turned in some more positive results on the housing industry as a whole, and mortgage borrowing in particular. The Globe and Mail reported on two key milestones yesterday. First, as of September 30th, the mortgage delinquency rate was 4.99%. Second,...

We spend a lot of time blogging about everything surrounding the places we live — homes, markets, interest rates, maintenance, etc…. But of course, even more important are what goes inside our homes: us. America has always been a melting pot, but just how diverse we...

This blog has covered a few times the impact that foreign affairs can have on the U.S. housing market, but sometimes it can be useful to look not just at direct impact, but at global comparisons. Jonathan Lansner over at The OC Register did us the favor of compiling a...

Literally every day there are prognostications about the rate of mortgage applications, based on projections of future interest rates. You know what? That’s crazy. And it’s even crazier to make your purchasing decision on projected rate moves. Sure, 1/4pt here or...

One of the most interesting things about America is the relationship between the state and the federal governments. There's also the corollary: what should the federal policy be for such a large and diverse country? When it comes to housing, it seems that the...